New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff
A honk-honk here and a honk-honk there, geese are everywhere.
Monday 03/21/2005
Spring has officially and actually arrived on River Road in Epsom! How a day or two can change things this time of year.
Saturday morning the Suncook River at my house was bright white and the ice looked like it would be here until May. Around noon I noticed a dark spot up river a couple hundred yards that had the look of an open spot. By 3:00 PM huge sections of the river were free of ice. This year the ice went out very subtly. It just mysteriously melted open in less than 24 hours by my house. By Sunday the river was open banking to banking as far up the river I could see. Some years high water from quick melting snow, or a rain storm, will flush the ice out with a roar as the giant ice sheets pummel the shore leaving scars on the tree trunks. Not so this year or last. Winter has left the river without even a whimper.
When I took the dogs for my usual afternoon hike down back Sunday afternoon a couple of red winged blackbirds sang out declaring spring for all to hear. I even walked under a tree with a male boldly calling and displaying 30 feet over my head. He even launched himself out into the air with his mating chatter as he glided through the air with open wings and wagging tail displaying for a female who has yet to return.
This morning on my way to the office in Durham I noticed pairs of geese bobbing from practically every spot of open water. Their salt and pepper heads and necks were held high to announce their presence as well. The snow is gradually receding from the fields in Durham, but west of there the ground pretty much remains snow covered. I did pull the grass away from a few clumps of daffodils that I planted a few years ago at the office. Their spiked fronds looked very nice sprouting from the brown grass on the sunny side of the office tucked in against a lilac I also planted there nearly two decades ago.
I did dodge a line of heavy traffic coming back from the office this afternoon to pull into the Shell station in Northwood to buy gas at $195.9, the least I had seen it for today. Who would have though we would need to risk death to buy gas at nearly two dollars a gallon! My little four cylinder Toyota Tacoma guzzled $32 worth without so much as a belch, burp or even a hiccup. No shame at all in that vehicle.
My walk at sunset tonight, as I didn't get home to walk the dogs until after 6:00 PM, was uneventful. No red wings tonight. I did take my parabolic listen device and scanned the sky for a woodcock to no avail. A flock of 5 geese were beautifully silhouetted against the darkening sky as I turned to walk home from the crest of the hill. They were worth the walk.
The Suncook River radiated the beauty of the last rays of scattered sunlight from it's now open water as I retreated to my house. I paused a while to gather the few remaining photons from the river's reflection like a bouquet of freshly picked spring flowers.
